No-one would regret any precipitation at this stage, but the rain that fell at the start of the month came in such a rush that Tenterfield Shire Council has been left with a repair bill in the order of $250,000.
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Runoff raised the dam level a metre, but left damaged silt traps and other infrastructure in the dam and surrounds in its wake.
Council chief executive Terry Dodds said the storm resulted in the dam's turbidity level jumping from 30 to 300, putting further pressure on the filtration plant.
"The sedimentation traps are by and large destroyed," he said.
Further downstream Tenterfield Creek came close to bursting its banks at Naas Street.
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To put a silver lining on the new additions to the to-do list, Mr Dodds said the catchment has now received a good flush-out, ridding itself of a lot of the ash, but not all, from September's bushfire.
Furthermore the leased reverse osmosis plant will be drawing its 500,000 litres of water a day from the bore supplies (given the turbid state of the dam water), topped up with 240,000 litres from the dam to support the town's 740,000 litres a day consumption rate.
Depending on how turbid the dam's contribution remains, the town may end up with clearer water, Mr Dodds said. The boil water alert remains in place.
